“Remember the Poor”

Last updated on: February 1, 2010 at 10:15 am by Amy Julia Becker

“Remember the Poor” 2010-02-01T10:15:00-05:00 Amy Julia Becker

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There’s this verse in the book of Galatians that always catches me off guard. It comes in chapter two, after Paul has explained that he is going to preach about Jesus to the Gentiles, and the apostles in Jerusalem will take the same message to the Jews. Then Paul writes, “All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do” (Galatians 2:10).

It’s a verse that catches my attention on two levels. First, what does it mean to remember the poor? Probably has something to do with the tendency of those of us who are not poor to forget that many people struggle to eat, find shelter, and so forth every day. So I think it must mean, “Don’t overlook, ignore, or avoid engagement with, those around you who are poor.” And then I suspect it also means, “And do something to help change the fact that they are poor.” Which is certainly in keeping with Christian teaching, from Jesus through today, whether or not most Christians actually live out the message.

But the second thing that catches my attention here is that Peter and Paul are divvying up the territory–you go to the Gentiles, I’ll go to the Jews. The ONLY thing Peter asked of Paul was that he “remember the poor.” In other words, as you strike out into this new mission field, don’t only preach to the well-connected and wealthy. Remember the poor. It should be a hallmark of your ministry, whether it be a ministry to Jew or Gentile.

I could do more in my own life to remember the poor. We give money away to charitable organizations. I have a penpal who is in prison in Florida, and I hope it offers her some encouragement that I remember her through letters every so often. (It certainly encourages me every time I hear from her.) I read and listen to the news, which often leads me to pray “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

But remembering is more than all that. I think it must mean active inclusion, welcoming, hospitality. It means taking those who are outside of the membership group and bringing them in. It means knitting together our lives, giving and receiving from one another, becoming friends, recognizing our shared poverty, and the shared promise of the richness of God’s grace.

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